Buying an old home to fix up can be challenging. One of the problems you might find is that the old hardwood floors are in terrible shape and beyond repair. Your only option might be to replace the tongue-in-groove boards to return places like the dining and living rooms to their former glory. Here is how you can replace the hardwood floors after you remove the damaged flooring in an old home – be advised, this is a job for a moderate to advanced Do-It-Yourselfer who has at least basic carpentry skills.

You Will Need:

• Sub-flooring
• New Tongue-in Groove Flooring
• Measuring Tape
• Pneumatic Nail Gun
• Nails
• Saw
• Mallet
• Chalk Line

Purchasing New Hardwood Flooring

Before you buy new flooring, measure the width and length of the floor and multiply the two measurements together to obtain the square footage of the room so you'll know how much wood you'll have to buy. As a general rule, add about 10 percent to the measurement so you have enough wood for mistakes you might make, or for irregular boards you'll have to cut to fit into tight spaces.

Floor Preparation

You will need to put down new sub-flooring if the old one is bad. You'll want to use at least 3/8" plywood to put over the joist boards on the floor. Nail the plywood into place and then walk all over the floor to check for any squeaking. (Do this even if you don't have to replace the sub-flooring.) If you hear any squeaking, nail that area of the floor to the joist board underneath the squeaky part. Make sure the sub-flooring is swept clean of any debris, and remove any nails or other obstructions in or on the sub-floor. You should also remove the shoe molding along the walls.

Installing Flooring

Start at the longest part of the room first – the new flooring needs to be installed perpendicular to the floor joists so you can nail the boards in place. You'll also need to plan for the wood to expand on hot humid days during the year. For this reason, set the first board about 3/8 of an inch away from the longest unobstructed wall. Snapping a chalk line 3/8" away from the wall will help you make sure you are keeping the first board in a straight line.

Place the groove side of the board toward the wall and drill pilot holes through board, sub-flooring, and floor joist boards. Tap in nails to hold the first row solidly in place. Then, tap the groove side of the boards in the second row into the tongue side of the first row. You might have to use a mallet to tap the groove side into the tongue side, but don't hit the tongue directly with the mallet. Instead, place a piece of a two by four against the tongue side and tap lightly – this will prevent the tongue side from getting damaged.

Use a pneumatic nail gun to place nails into the tongue side to hold the board in place every 12 inches. Repeat this process until you have completely covered the floor with the new tongue-in-groove hardwood flooring. Also, make sure you scatter the seams of the boards on every row so you don't end up with one seam running straight across your floor – this not only looks bad, but the seam is weaker than scattered seams and can come apart easier.

Use a saw to cut pieces to fit at the end of the rows, and to cut pieces to fit in places like doorways and alcoves. Replace the shoe molding around the walls to complete the job. For more tips and information, contact a company like National Carpet Mill Outlet.